A large number of suicides among the participants in Anti-terrorist operation in the Donbas is a consequence of the fact that no measures are being taken to rehabilitate and adapt the servicemen. This was stated by Chief Military Prosecutor Anatolii Matios on his Facebook.
Referring to official data from the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, he reported that as of April 1, 2018, at least 554 people committed suicide during ATO.
"At the same time, this year, the State Budget of Ukraine provides for $4.15 million for psychological recovery, social and professional adaptation of ATO participants and their provision with health resort treatment. However, military prosecutors determined that centralized measures for psychological recovery of ATO participants in Ukraine in 2018 year are not being held at all…", - Matios wrote.
The Chief Military Prosecutor explains this by the fact that up to the present moment, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine "either could not or did not want to adopt a number of normative documents without which it is simply impossible to conclude treaties on providing rehabilitation services for ATO participants".
He also stated that there were not enough professional psychologists with practical experience in Ukraine, because of what the approach to psychological recovery in military units remained forcedly formal for reasons beyond control.
Although the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine tries to solve this problem as hard as it could and involves specialized volunteer organizations for cooperation, other military formations rely only on the Ministry of Social Policy.
"So it turns out that there is money on the account, but psychological recovery services for post-traumatic condition of servicemen and demobilized soldiers are provided solely at the initiative of local government, volunteer organizations or during the stay of military personnel on in-patient treatment in hospitals", - the chief military prosecutor noted.